If Fang Yuan sent troops to the Northern Expedition, the Manchu Qing would take advantage of the situation to enter the customs, which was also expected by Fang Yuan. When Li Zicheng was in the west, Fang Yuan estimated that the Manchus might enter the customs and cross the sea to invade Shandong, but he never thought that the Manchus would not move. If the war advanced further north, it was almost nine times out of ten that the Manchus would intervene. Otherwise, the Ming Dynasty is gone, and Fang Yuan will definitely go out of the customs to recover Liaodong next.

Under normal circumstances, Chongzhen would inevitably not lead the Manchu Qing Dynasty into the customs and bear the infamy of the ages. But it is difficult to predict whether Zhou Kui, Wu Sangui and others have this kind of discipline.

In history, it was Wu Sangui who attracted the Manchu Qing Dynasty to enter the customs, and Zhou Kui first voted for Li Zicheng, and then voted for the Manchu Dynasty. If you want to send troops to Gyeonggi, you must prepare for the worst, which is to fight against the Manchu Qing and the imperial court.

How to deal with the Manchu Qing Dynasty, or even the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the imperial court's coalition forces, Fang Yuan didn't think of a countermeasure for a while, and couldn't help but ponder silently.

Jing Jie came out again and said, "Regent, I have a suggestion that can make the Manchu Qing sit on pins and needles, and never dare to enter the customs easily. It is to take the strategy of attacking the east and the west to rebuild Dongjiang Town on Phi Dao! ”

"If the Manchus dare to come to Shanhaiguan, we can send troops from Dongjiang Town to destroy the Manchu rear cities. If the Manchus do not come to support, we can also use Dongjiang Town as a base and send troops to harass from time to time, dragging down the economy and people's livelihood of the Manchus. ”

The threat of Phi Dao to the hinterland of the Manchu Qing Dynasty had already been understood by Fang Yuan when he set out to conquer Liaodong before. As long as the Xuanjia Iron Cavalry departs from Phi Island, it can reach the new capital of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, Shengjing, or the old capital Hetuala, in three days.

It is no exaggeration to say that the Guanning defense line is nothing more than a disease of scabies against the Manchus, and Dongjiang Town is the sharpest knife against the abdomen of the Manchus.

At that time, Mao Wenlong operated on Phi Dao, which was the biggest hidden danger in the rear of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. The reason why it failed to expand the results of the battle was that the combat strength of Mao Wenlong's troops was too poor to pose a fatal threat to the Manchus. If it was the powerful Xuanjia Iron Cavalry who harassed in the rear, the threat to the Manchus would not be the same as that of Mao Wenlong.

Landing from Phi Island, you can go north to attack Shengjing and Hetuala, or you can attack Gaizhou and Haizhou in the west. Even if you can't capture Shengjing and Hetuala, slaughter several states and cities along the way, reduce and reduce Ding for the Manchus, and hit the people's livelihood of the Manchus, it is also easy. By the time the Manchu Eight Banners came after him, the Xuanjia Iron Cavalry had already fled.

This is also the strategy of cutting down big trees that Huang Taiji harassed before, but now Fang Yuan is just a tooth for a tooth, and he will return his body with his way.

Fang Yuan didn't think about it, and immediately approved Jing Jie's request to rebuild Dongjiang Town, "Okay, Jing Shuai, according to your suggestion, rebuild Dongjiang Town." ”

Jing Jie asked, "Boss, what is the establishment of this Dongjiang Military Town, and how many soldiers and horses are there?!" ”

With Fang Yuan's idea, the rebuilt Dongjiang Town this time is no longer Mao Wenlong's petty fight before, but will become a lingering nightmare for the Manchu Qing Dynasty and Dolgon!

Fang Yuan thought for a while and said, "The location of Dongjiang Town is too special, not only to deal with the military town of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, but also to use it as a base to contain Korea and even Japan in the future. This is not just a forward base, but belongs to the same war zone as Liaodong, at least there must be a governor! ”

"Since it is another front harassing the Manchus, we can't make a small fuss, I suggest that there be 30,000 troops stationed on Phi Island, 20,000 Xuanjia iron cavalry, 5,000 infantry battalions, and 5,000 sailors."

He assigned the Dongjiang Military Town to Liaodong as a war zone, and set up a supervisor or the post of governor, which greatly improved the status of the Dongjiang Military Town. Although there is only one Dongjiang military town at present, which seems to be inconspicuous, after Liaodong expelled the Manchu forces, the supervisor and governor of this Dongjiang military town are the candidates for the future governor of Liaodong.

Such a piece of fat predetermined in advance, all the soldiers are eager to try, especially in the battle of Li Zicheng in the Western Expedition, they have made great contributions, and the two most promising candidates.

One is Zhang Ying, the commander of the infantry battalion, and the other is Zhao Quanzhong, the commander of the cavalry battalion.

Zhao Quanzhong rushed out to recommend himself to Fang Yuan Mao, "Regent, I also participated in the surprise attack on Liaodong back then, and I know the terrain of Liaodong well. It is only fitting that I should be the governor of Dongjiang Town. ”

Fang Yuan listened to his self-recommendation, but he was noncommittal.

Zhao Quanzhong is not only the commander of the cavalry, but also experienced the battle of Liaodong a few years ago, and should be familiar with the tactics of cavalry harassment, so Zhao Quanzhong is indeed a very suitable candidate.

However, Zhao Quanzhong's temperament is too irritable, and he is fierce on the battlefield, but he is often ill-conceived and has a poor strategic outlook. Putting Zhao Quanzhong in Dongjiang Military Town to take charge of himself, Fang Yuan still had deep worries.

Fang Yuan looked at Zhang Ying, who was more respectful of Chen Chen, and asked, "Commander Zhang, what do you think?!" ”

Of course, Zhang Yingda wanted to be the governor of Dongjiang Town, but he couldn't take the initiative to provoke a struggle with the patriarchal faction, so he could only retreat as the way to advance, "Everything is in accordance with the regent's order." ”

Zhao Quanzhong, who took the initiative to ask for help, was ignored by Fang Yuan, he was not angry, and he was about to fight again, but he was glared at by Jing Jie fiercely, and he couldn't say anything more.

Jing Jie spoke again, "Regent, since Dongjiang Town is an important war zone, it needs both Lao Chen to be serious and to charge the trap. I suggest that Commander Zhao and Commander Zhang jointly preside over the military affairs of Dongjiang Town, where they can attack and retreat! ”

It's not that Fang Yuan didn't think about this proposal, but these two people are put together, who is the boss, who is the second, and who obeys whom? If the rights and responsibilities are not clear, it will lead to unpredictable consequences on the battlefield.

Jing Jie also guessed Fang Yuan's worries, and said, "The Ji Liao Governors of the Ming Dynasty are all concurrently serving as the secretary of the military department, and I will first take the position of the governor of Dongjiang Town. Zhao Quanzhong specializes in it, Zhang Ying specializes in it, and dispatches a small-scale operation of less than 5,000 people, which can be discussed by the two generals. Any major military operation of more than 5,000 must be reported to the Ministry of War before it can be carried out. ”

Fang Yuan nodded again and again when he heard this, Jing Jie himself assumed the position of governor of Dongjiang Town, so as not to let the two generals fight back and forth, so he immediately made a decisive decision, "The words of the commander are very reasonable, Commander Zhao, Commander Zhang, after pacifying Liaodong, see who has more credit for the two generals, and then decide the candidate for the governor of Liaodong, do you two have any objections?" ”

Zhao Quanzhong and Zhang Commander also have nothing to say, at present, Jing Jie is the most appropriate balance to concurrently serve as the governor, anyway, in the future, Jing Jie will be in charge of the soldiers and horses of the whole world, and he will not dominate the governor of Liaodong.

The two had no objection and said yes.

Fang Yuan looked at Shen Xiang, the head of the household department, and asked, "Shen Shangshu, how much silver is needed to rebuild a Dongjiang town where 50,000 soldiers and horses are stationed, and is it enough for the head of the household?" ”

Shen Xiang said in embarrassment, "Regent, the cost of rebuilding Dongjiang Town will not be less than the construction of the Zhoushan Water Division Base, at least one or two million taels!" In the past two years, first Shandong, and then Huguang and Henan, the household department has long been overstretched, and it is enough to spend 500,000 taels of silver, but 2 million is too much. ”

Fang Yuan didn't want to embarrass him, he fought again and again, the silver was like a flower like flowing water, and Shen Xiang's ability to take out 500,000 taels of silver was already quite a remarkable political achievement. simply crusaded against Li Zicheng this time, and looted one or two million taels of silver from Li Zicheng, plus 500,000 taels of silver from the household department, which should barely be enough for two million.

Fang Yuan said, "I will pay another 1.5 million taels out of my own pocket, which should be enough!" ”

Most of the cost of rebuilding the Dongjiang Military Town was paid by Fang Yuan out of his own pocket, and the cabinet and the Sixth Ministry still had something to say? Wang Bingjian could only agree.